FCC Chair Worries About Wide-Open Wireless

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin said Tuesday he would recommend that his fellow commissioners dismiss Skype's request to apply the Carterfone principles to the wireless industry.

Skype was dealt a setback Tuesday when Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin said he would recommend that his fellow commissioners dismiss Skype's request to apply the Carterfone principles to the wireless industry.

"In light of the [wireless] industry's embrace of a more open wireless platform, it would be premature to adopt any other requirements across the industry," Martin told a receptive crowd at the annual CTIA Wireless Conference. "Thus, today I will circulate to my fellow commissioners an order dismissing a petition for declaratory ruling filed by Skype."

In February 2007, Skype asked the FCC to apply the Carterfone rules to wireless networks. The Carterfone decision, handed down in 1968, opened up the Bell network to devices not produced by the AT&T wireline network, paving the way for devices like answering machines, fax machines, computer modems, and early dial-up Internet.

Skype argued that the wireless industry has limited subscribers' ability to run certain software communications applications on their mobile phones, and disabled phones and features to thwart competition  all in violation of the Carterfone principles, Skype said.

Wireless companies vehemently disagreed, and said that their industry is rife with competition.

Skype's petition is "deeply flawed," AT&T said in a May 2007 filing."Carterfone was directed at a single entity  the vertically integrated Bell system, [which] dominated wireless telecommunications as well as the adjacent market for telephone equipment," according to AT&T. "Today's wireless industry bears none of those characteristics."

"Imposing new regulation would disrupt the flourishing and innovative U.S. market and disserve U.S. wireless consumers," Verizon wrote to the FCC in August.

Chairman Martin agreed with the wireless industry.

"Competition in the wireless industry has also led to lower prices, higher usage and adoption rates, and technological innovation," he said Tuesday.

"In less than a year, many of you have evolved from vocal opponents to vocal proponents, embracing the open platform concept for your entire network," he said.

Skype did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Interest groups were not enthused.

Opposing the petition "is a missed opportunity to usher in a new era of innovation," S. Derek Turner, research director of Free Press, said in a statement. "If open devices and applications are good for consumers in the networks to be built on the newly auctioned spectrum, why not for all mobile networks?"

Trusting the wireless industry to move ahead with an open platform is short-sighted, Turned said.

"Despite the wireless carriers' discussion of increasing openness, the existing wireless handset marketplace for all consumers still remains closed," Markham Erickson, executive director of the Open Internet Coalition, said in a statement. "It would be a serious mistake for the FCC to dismiss Skype's petition before we've seen whether the telcos will follow through on their promises."

Public Knowledge is "disappointed" with the chairman's decision, Gigi Sohn, president and co-founder, said in a statement.

Highlighting the openness provisions of the 700-MHz auction is premature, she said, because the c-block currently has no subscribers. "Any benefits to subscribers in that one small slice of spectrum, to which some open access rules will apply, won't be known for many years," Sohn said.

On the spectrum front, Martin also re-iterated the commission's commitment to public safety. The auction, which concluded on March 18, was to have set aside the d-block for public safety use if bidders met a $1.3 billion reserve price, but it failed to attract any winning bids. It is now up to the FCC to decide the next step.

Martin did not provide any concrete plans for the d-block, saying only that the FCC "remains committed" to public safety and interoperability, and that the commission is "evaluating its options" regarding the d-block.

Chloe Albanesius has been with PCMag.com since April 2007, most recently as Executive Editor for News and Features. Prior to that, she worked for a year covering financial IT on Wall Street for Incisive Media. From 2002 to 2005, Chloe covered technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships at NBC's Meet the Press, washingtonpost.com, the Tate Gallery press office in London, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from American University...
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